


Caught in Arachne's Web

by WyldeSpiderRaptor



Series: Spideychelle Week 2k20 [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker (mentioned), Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Author Is Sleep Deprived, BAMF Michelle Jones, BAMF Peter Parker, Boarding School, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Michelle Jones is a Little Shit, Mutant Michelle Jones, Mutants, Mutants au, Mutual Pining, Orphan Peter Parker, Oscorp - Freeform (mentioned), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker Has Fangs, Peter Parker Has Organic Webs, Peter Parker isn't Spider-Man, Platonic Cuddling (Or Is It?), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Michelle Jones, Purring Peter Parker, Tags May Change, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Raft Prison (Marvel), eventual Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24813271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyldeSpiderRaptor/pseuds/WyldeSpiderRaptor
Summary: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters has always been a refuge for Michelle Jones. Having lived there most of her life thanks to her always-traveling, distant mother, the school became her home from middle school onwards.When a new Mutant is enrolled in the school, MJ's world is turned upside down by his bright puppy-dog eyes and hidden traumas held under wraps by sincere, earnest smiles and cheerful demeanor.Spideychelle Week Day 5: Roommates
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Original Character(s), Michelle Jones & Original Female Character(s), Michelle Jones & Original Male Character(s), Michelle Jones & Peter Parker & Original Character(s), Michelle Jones & Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), Michelle Jones & Peter Parker & Original Male Character(s), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Original Character(s), Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Original Male Character(s)
Series: Spideychelle Week 2k20 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762618
Comments: 33
Kudos: 122
Collections: Spideychelle Week, Spideychelle Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I literally came up with this idea on the dot last night before bed, haha. If this gets enough attention, I may actually continue it. The idea will be pretty fun to explore, and if you guys would like to see more of this new Au, please let me know, and I might continue it. :)

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was getting a new student.

Everyone seemed to be excited, but Michelle Jones just...wasn’t. She wasn’t excited in the slightest.

Another Mutant meant another mouth to feed, and her single bedroom would be permanently shared with the newcomer, as everyone else’s rooms were already filled with two people.

Michelle didn’t want to lose the solitary of her room. She valued being alone ever since she was brought to Charles Xavier’s school. Sure, there were a few people that were pretty nice to her, but she was a loner. She didn’t like having anyone getting too close to her. She had suffered through losing her only friend during middle school when her Mutant abilities were unleashed, and she didn’t want to have to go through that pain again.

The other students talked about the newcomer in whispers, mainly discussing what his abilities would be, and where he originally came from, none of which the girl wanted any part of.

All she knew was that the newcomer was going to be arriving next month, so she still had time to keep her room for herself until he arrived, but that didn’t stop people from questioning her on what she thought about it. She was always very good at avoiding their questions, but it was still difficult.

“Who do you think the newcomer is gonna be?”

“What was that?” Michelle looked over at Emmaline Cadet, a fellow Mutant she became acquainted with when she first came to Xavier’s school.

Emmaline had olive skin and dark hair similar to Michelle, except her body was tattooed in bright white comets and constellation patterns, and her eyes were a bright royal blue to accommodate her galactic-like abilities. She always wore button-up shirts or NASA t-shirts with khaki skirts and fancy dress shoes. She came from a very rich family, unlike Michelle or some of the other Mutants living at the boarding school.

“Who do you think the newcomer is gonna be?” She repeated.

The other girl shrugged, taking a draft of her mocha in the cafe they had on campus. “Don’t know.”

“C’mon, Michelle. You’ve got to have _some_ clue,” Emmaline said, smiling knowingly.

“Nope. Don’t know, don’t care,” Michelle replied. She went back to reading her book, and Emmaline rejoined her friends in conversation.

A new bed, desk, and dresser were prepared on the opposite side of Michelle’s room by the time the third week rolled around. From the looks of it, whoever was moving in seemed pretty rich, considering the desk was Stark Industries material.

 _Oh, great. I have a rich snob to put up with_ , the girl groaned internally as she flopped down on her bed to sketch a variety of Dahlia flowers, mostly Black Dahlias, like the murder that she was enraptured in.

Although she wasn’t too keen on the thought of having a rich brat being her roommate, some part of her started to disagree.

_Maybe they were nice. Maybe they wouldn’t act snobby or selfish or expect you to get them coffee and such._

_Maybe they’ll care about you._

When the arrival date of their new classmate came, she was completely unprepared for who was greeted at the door by Mr. Xavier.

“Ah, Mr. Parker! So nice of you to join us!” He greeted with a friendly smile, although Michelle knew very well that he was just trying to be polite to the teenager.

A few passing Mutants took a glance at the door, as they raced to the library, cafe, or one of the training rooms to help harness their abilities better, while Michelle silently sat in one of the chairs by the stairwell, drawing in her sketchpad.

“Ms. Jones, would you please show Mr. Parker where he’ll be staying while I talk to Mr. Stark out here?” Xavier asked in an authoritative voice.

When the girl looked up, she was completely _baffled_.

Parker, from what Xavier had called him, kept his head down shyly, his worn-out red and white sneakers squeaking slightly against the polished floor when he shuffled his feet. He was dressed in baggy, faded jeans, a grey jacket pulled over a blue t-shirt with a drawing of a lettuce-and-dressing-only salad within a white bowl in the center that read, “Lettuce, the taste of sadness” in large, white letters. In one pale hand, he held the dirty grey strap of an equally worn-out slate grey backpack that was slung over his shoulder, and the other held the large, blue, and tan suitcase in a white-knuckled grip.

What caught her completely off-guard was when he finally willed himself to look up at her, and she could see the clearly defined burn scars that littered his throat from the use of shock collars, a mop of fluffy, chocolate hair on the top of his head, and bright, copper puppy-dog eyes that seemed to stare right through her.

From the red-rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks, it looked like he had just been crying…

Clearing her throat, MJ snapped her sketchbook shut. “Okay. I’m assuming you’re Mr. Parker—”

“Peter, actually. Uh, Peter Parker,” the boy, Peter, said hastily. He let go of his backpack strap to shyly shake her hand. “I don’t, uh… Mr. Parker was my dad. I-I’m just Peter.”

Michelle felt something flutter inside her, but she shoved it away and gave the shorter boy a curt nod. “Well. It’s nice to meet you.”

The female Mutant started leading Peter up the stairs, and she noticed that his head was down again and he looked rather skittish. Wanting to break the ice, she took a deep breath and her lips parted.

“I don’t think I told you my name.”

Peter lifted his head before jerking it away from her, almost like he was scared of looking people in the eye. “No. No, I don’t think you did…” His shy smile didn’t go unnoticed.

“It’s Michelle Jones, but my friends call me MJ— that is if I had any friends,” Michelle declared, mentally kicking herself for making her introduction sound so despondent.

“It’s nice to meet you, Michelle…” Peter said earnestly, looking up slightly at her.

She arched an eyebrow at him before shrugging. “Yeah, you, too.”

Okay, so maybe thinking he was a snobby rich kid was a bit harsh. He certainly didn’t act like one. She was somewhat hopeful that he wouldn’t treat her like dirt just because he was the supposed son of a billionaire and rub it in her face that Tony Stark of all people was his father.

She noticed that, right off the bat, he was a bit...strange. Not strange in a bad way, but strange in the sense that he tried to avoid his bed for some reason while unpacking his stuff, only going as far as removing the pillows and comforter and lining the carpeted floor with them.

She knew she shouldn’t judge Peter for doing whatever he probably had done before coming to the school, but… She didn’t know how to say it. It was just...strange.

Other than the bed incident, Peter seemed pretty okay with the living situation. He even removed his shoes at the door after she did, which was decent enough—Gwen Stacy or some of the other students would usually barge into her room _without_ taking their shoes off to talk to her, which pissed her off—since he picked up on her taking her shoes off, so he supposed that she wanted him to do the same.

“So, uhm… I haven’t seen any of the other students around….” Peter mumbled, shuffling his socked feet, arms curled around his middle, hugging a large, floppy tarantula plush against his body for comfort. It looked worn and well-loved, so he had the giant black spider for quite some time.

“Probably out in the courtyard, library, cafe, or lab doing some weird shit,” Michelle responded flatly, sitting on her bed.

“There’s a lab here?” Peter questioned, tilting his head in curiosity.

The girl shrugged. “I mean, yeah. Metal manipulators or tech-savvy students use that place for projects or other stuff like that.”

“Well… That’s a relief. I was worried I was going to have to use my desk for stuff to build.” Upon realizing what he said might have sounded rude, the boy instantly backpedaled. “Which isn’t a bad thing, I-I was just worried that you might get mad because I was constantly working, sometimes during the night, and— okay, I’m rambling, I’ll just, shut up now, yeah.” He squeezed his plush tighter against his chest, which she suspected he did when he was nervous.

The girl waved dismissively at him. “‘S fine. I mean, I’d expect you to be as tech-savvy as Stark is, anyway, since you’re his son and all.”

"That’s true, but not true at the same time,” Peter said, finally willing himself to sit in the swivel chair in front of the desk. He set his spider down before spinning the chair to face her. “I’m not related to Tony Stark. He, uh, adopted me about six months before I got my powers. So, yeah, as you said, I’m his son, but just...adopted.” He smiled that sweet, earnest smile that somehow made Michelle’s heart turn to mush the longer she stared at him.

“Huh. Never would have guessed him to be the type to adopt,” she commented, to which Peter responded with a half-hearted shrug.

“In all honesty… I thought I was a charity case. I felt like he was just adopting me for publicity until the media got too much and then he’d send me back, but that wasn’t the reason.” He rubbed the back of his scarred neck, almost like he was uncomfortable with the thought of conversing about the topic.

"Sounds like you got off easy, huh?" The girl asked, walking over to her bed before sitting down on it, pulling a book off of a shelf above her head.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Has the media ever hounded you down before?" She asked suddenly, curious.

Peter laughed a tiny bit in amusement. "Oh yeah. Not as many times as fans coming up to say hi to me or ask for a photo, but quite a bit."

"Must be pretty hard dealing with being in your shoes," Michelle said nonchalantly.

This time, it was Peter's turn to shrug. "I mean, yeah, sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn't so bad." He didn't bother to tell her about when older men would taunt or tease him about his adopted father's partying days, and how they wouldn't be surprised if he fell down the same path of drinking, drugs and sleeping around that he did.

Paying more attention to his unpacked suitcase, he turned away from her to stuff whatever clothes he had packed up with him into the dresser by his bed, occasionally glancing over at the nest of pillows and blankets he had hastily set up.

He didn’t want to sleep on the oh-so inviting mattress that seemed to mock him with what he had endured for the past six months before coming to Xavier’s school for his safety. He shook his head, instantly starting to spread the comforter out, setting two pillows off to the side once his clothes were taken care of.

“So, what’s with you and lining the corner with your bedsheets?” MJ asked, genuinely curious.

Peter looked over his shoulder at her. He looked back at his sheets before standing up. “I, uh… I kinda sleep in a web…” He gave her a nervous smile. “I mean before I got my powers, I slept in a bed, but...yeah. Webs are more comfortable.”

“You have webs?” The girl questioned, marking a spot in her book with a homemade bookmark.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I do. They usually last for about eight to twelve hours, and I always made one in the corner of my room back home. They’re pretty comfortable, well, for me at least.” He grabbed his little spider before placing him on one of the pillows. “I don’t usually make one until right before I go to bed, though, since it lasts longer.”

Michelle nodded. “Nice. So… Spider mutation, huh?”

He laughed a bit, standing up completely to focus on her. “Yeah. Spider mutation. I mean, I can do more, but… I haven’t been in an environment where that was accepted, y’know? So I haven’t really used them outside or anything.”

“I think all of us have been there, Parker. I know I have,” Michelle sympathized. She knew what that felt like. Being ostracized by society because she was a Mutant. Her mother chipping away at her confidence every day before taking her to Xavier’s for “her safety” and “because she loves her”. The baggage from suffering under the hand of her emotionally abusive mother still lingered, and she was trying her best to bring up her confidence behind a blunt, aloof facade.

A facade she was worried Peter could see right through.

_Thwip._

What the heck?

Michelle looked up to see Peter shooting a sticky, web-like substance from his wrists along the floor and wall of the corner on the opposite side of their room.

It was a web.

“ _I, uh… I kinda sleep in a web… I mean before I got my powers, I slept in a bed, but...yeah. Webs are more comfortable._ ”

“ _They usually last for about eight to twelve hours, and I always made one in the corner of my room back home. They’re pretty comfortable, well, for me at least._ ”

Now Peter’s comments about where he slept made more sense.

“How are you doing that?” She asked. “I mean, I can see it’s coming out of your wrists, but...how?”

“Spinneret glands,” Peter replied. “I was actually born with them, but I couldn’t create webbing until after I gained the rest of my powers.”

“What glands?” Michelle swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, walking towards him.

“Spinneret glands,” the short boy replied patiently. “It’s a special gland only spiders, and I, have. Except spiders have them in their...y’know...and I have them in each of my wrists.” He showed her the underside of his wrist, which had an inch and a half long slit in his pale skin. It was very thin and looked more like a deep cut that had stopped bleeding hours ago.

“That’s... kinda cool,” she said, fingers hovering over the spinneret gland.

“You can touch it, I don’t mind.” Realizing what he had just said, Peter’s already large eyes widened. “That-that is if you want to, I-I’m not gonna tell you what to do— I just realized that sounded really weird. Saying that you could touch it— I-I didn’t mean it like that—”

Michelle cut him off by running a finger over the giant slit in his wrist, making goosebumps instantly cover his arms from under his jacket.

“It just feels like you cut your arm open,” she pointed out, lifting her gaze from his wrist to meet his bright, copper eyes.

Peter let out a slightly breathless laugh, running his hand over the scars along his neck. “Yeah, it kinda does, doesn’t it..?”

“You ever have to clean it?” She asked, finally removing her hand from the shorter boy’s wrist.

“Yeah, every time I take a shower.” He rubbed his arm shyly. “It’s not that hard to clean, but I still have to be careful, since I might web my hand to my arm, and it’s a _pain_ to scrub off.” He aimed his wrist at th still-forming web in the corner of the room, the white fluid shooting out of his wrist at breathtaking speed.

Michelle laughed, shaking her head. “Alright, loser.” She sat back to watch his form a huge web around the same size as the two beds in their now-shared room.

From observing him firing his organic webbing from his wrists, she could see the certain way he did it was with all but two of his fingers splayed out, while his ring and middle finger were pressed towards a pressure point at the base of his palm to trigger the spinneret glands.

It only took a couple of extra minutes to finish the web, and once it was done Peter crawled onto the strong substance, grabbing the blanket and two pillows he had separated from the rest of his bedsheets, which were still laid in the same spot underneath the web. Extending his wrist, he fired a strand of webbing out at his spider plush, which successfully pulled it towards his chest.

Realizing too late that she was staring, Michelle averted her gaze, clearing her throat. “So, uh… I should...probably show you around this place since you'll be living here with me for the time being…”

“Right, yeah.” Setting his plush down on his web, Peter stood up to go pull his worn-out shoes back on.

Michelle pulled on her combat boots before leading him out of their room. Once they were both standing in the hallway, she turned around to shut her door, exposing a strange mark peeking out from under her shirt.

Peter wasn't sure he could tell what it was, but it wasn't a scar, not that he was aware of, anyway.

Michelle looked back at him, a bit amused at his innocent-looking face. "C'mon, Parker."

Peter quickly scurried after her down the hallway, trailing behind her like a lost puppy.

* * *

Peter wasn’t kidding when he said he had fans. She was sure _everyone_ jumped when Gwen let out an ecstatic squeal upon seeing him during dinner that night. Michelle noticed the discomfort in his eyes when she excitedly asked for a photo, and few other people trailed behind her.

There were a few people who seemed happy to have another Mutant join the school, but they did comment saying something along the lines of how much they looked up to his father, which he could handle pretty well, as he also admired his father for years before he was adopted by him.

“You are _so_ lucky, Michelle!” Emmaline squeaked in a hushed voice while in line to get freshly prepared food for dinner that evening.

“C’mon, he’s not all about riches and money, Cadet,” Michelle sighed, walking towards the table in the corner she and Peter had snagged near the back of the cafeteria, which had a few people walking towards to talk to him.

Peter seemed a bit overwhelmed, especially while he was just trying to eat his dinner, but he politely answered everyone’s questions like the respectful, perfect, sincere, and cute boy he was.

Did she think Peter was _cute_?

She shook her head to try and clear the thoughts from her head. She _just_ met him. Why in the world would did she think someone she just met was cute of all things? She was better than that. She wasn’t a character in a sappy, cliched romance story filled with ooey-gooey love-at-first-sight nonsense.

Even with trying to convince herself that Peter wasn’t cute, and it was just her X-gene acting up whenever she focused on him, she still couldn’t help but feel a wave of gnawing anger eating away at her core when she saw Gwen flirting excessively when the shorter boy, who was just trying to eat his salad and pasta in peace without being bombarded by awe-struck students asking for a photo or how life living with Tony Stark was.

“So… Peter, was it?” Gwen hoisted herself up onto the table, which caused Peter to jerk his dinner away from her in a hurry to prevent her from knocking it over.

“Uh… Y-yes..” He smiled nervously, flashing her a shy smile, sharp fangs peeking out from his top row of teeth. They were curved like a spider’s fangs and peeked out against his lips whenever he smiled, looking like he could extend them if he wanted to.

“Ooh, fangs, huh? That’s a first,” she grinned seductively, as Peter chuckled nervously.

“Perk of my mutation, I guess…” He rubbed the scars adorning his neck.

“I like them. Makes you look _fierce_ ,” Gwen said, a wide smirk on her lips that made Peter duck his head shyly, not used to being given such attention from someone around his age since he graduated high school early.

“Thanks...” He mumbled, picking at his plate filled with three cheese ziti. “Uh, what can… What are your abilities?”

“Sound absorption, echolocation, and enhanced agility,” she said, listing her multiple capabilities.

Peter smiled politely. “That’s pretty cool.” he took a bite of his salad before guzzling it down with a gulp of water.

“What about you?”

Peter swallowed the cool liquid, cocking his head. “Huh?’

“What can _you_ do?” She asked, still grinning at the curly-haired boy. “Like… What are your powers?”

“W-well… I’m strong and sticky for one thing…” He said nervously, almost as if he wasn’t too keen on talking about himself. Before the girl could press him further about what he could do, he changed the subject. “Uhm, I don’t think I got your name…”

“Gwennevire Stacy,” she introduced, swinging her legs innocently.

“Alright, Guinevere Stacy,” Michelle growled out, which caught both the two other teenagers’ attention, “I think you can get off of our table now.”

“I’ll see you later, Peter,” the other girl said in a sickly sweet tone of voice. 

Peter waved shyly, watching her walk off as MJ sat down across from him. “Is she always like that…?” He asked in a hushed voice, looking back at the taller girl.

“Unfortunately,” Michelle responded, twirling spaghetti on her fork. “Is dinner good?”

“Oh! Yeah. The salad was really good, but I think the three-cheese ziti won me over,” he admitted cheerfully, flashing her a bright smile, his large fangs peeking out.

“You a vampire that eats cheese ziti or something?” She asked, smirking playfully.

Peter covered his mouth before laughing a tiny bit. “N-no, it’s just… Part of my mutation. I can extend them if I want, so they’re a bit longer than they are currently. But I only do that when I’m yawning or seemed threatened.”

Michelle nodded. “Nice.” She slurped up some of her spaghetti, watching Peter chomp down on a bite of his ziti.

“Wait until the bring out the beignets with chocolate dipping sauce,” Miles Morales, a fellow Mutant called ut from the table next to them. “You’ll go ape-shit over those. Everyone does here. They’re the best.”

Peter’s eyes bugged out of his skull. His mouth opened into an “o” shape, as he whipped his head around from looking at Miles to looking at Michelle, who smiled smugly at his reaction.

“Jeez, Parker, you look like you’ve never had a beignet before.”

Scrunching up his nose a tiny bit, Peter scoffed. “I have had a beignet before!” He instantly dropped his gaze to stuff a forkful of ziti into his mouth. “It was just, uh… It was just a year since I’ve had one,” he admitted.

Damien Montgomery barked out a laugh. “You’re gonna _love_ it, Stark!” He said, completely ignoring the slight tense in Peter’s muscles and an involuntary flinch.

Michelle furrowed her brow when she saw the sudden change in Peter’s demeanor upon being referred to as a Stark.

“You...alright..?” She asked subtly, making him look up at her with those sincere brown eyes.

She could see lingering trauma and pain behind those bright irises. _Something_ happened to him before he came to Xavier’s school. Something very bad…

“‘M fine, Michelle… I guess I just miss my dad,” he laughed humorlessly, resting his face in his palm, as he bit ziti off of his fork.

Michelle furrowed her brow a tiny bit, her powers hard at work to detect if he was lying or not.

He was most certainly lying, thanks to her lie-detecting abilities, but she didn’t dare call him out on it, instead choosing to stay quiet and finish eating her pasta.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LONG TIME NO SEE! I'm so sorry I abandoned this fic! That was not my intention at all. But I'm back now, and I'm here with a new chapter! I've made revisions to the previous chapter since I didn't really like MJ having telepathy. So she had a whole new set of powers instead.

Michelle was no stranger to nightmares. She's had her fair share of bad dreams in the past, but Peter's were way different than any nightmare she'd ever experienced.

Some nights he'd wake her up with his screaming, begging someone to leave him alone, to get away from him. Other times she was woken up by hearing him shuffling in the dark, trying to be as silent as possible while he paced around to try and calm his nerves.

Every time she'd sit up, startled by his screams or confused by his pacing, he'd apologize profusely and try to convince her to go back to bed so he wouldn't disturb her further.

For the first two nights, she obeyed, only to be woken up by terrified whimpers and shrill whines two hours later. She later began to learn that whenever Peter had a nightmare, it was almost impossible for him to go back to sleep.

Michelle began to jump out of bed each time Peter was screaming and crying in his sleep, instantly crouching by his side, and gently shaking him awake to calm him down sooner.

She knew how exhausted Peter was during the day. He'd be slumped over at his desk working on blueprints for some kind of suit, trying desperately to stay awake and keep himself occupied, or he'd just pass out while working on something in the lab, which she found out that he did often from Miles whenever he went down there.

That was when she decided to schedule a "nap time" for her roommate. For three hours every day, Peter would sleep curled up in his nest with her keeping a close eye on him in case she had to calm him down from another nightmare.

Peter greatly appreciated this new schedule his roommate made for him, even though he told her it wasn't a big deal.

"Shut up and go to sleep, Parker," was what she told him when she was sick and tired of hearing his earnest words of protest. "I'm not telling you again."

He learned not to argue with her when it came to sleeping after that.

Despite what many people might have thought before of her, Michelle actually enjoyed the presence of the adopted Parker/Stark boy. His bright, sincere, and honest demeanor clashed with her aloof, observant, and blunt personality, but they somehow made it work.

Maybe the term "opposites attract" wasn't so far-fetched after all.

The only rift Michelle saw in their relationship was Gwen Stacy. She'd fling herself all over Peter, practically drooling at his feet, just to get him in her bed or flaunt off the fact that she was dating the adoptive son of one of the richest men in New York City.

She had no idea how Peter was able to blow her advances off so easily. He'd simply smile politely at her and gently decline sitting with her friends in favor to stay close to Michelle.

He followed her around almost everywhere like some sort of puppy wanting attention from its owner. Sure, some people may snap at him and tell him to stop following them, but Michelle didn't.

She already knew how scared and sensitive he was, and she didn't want to lose the only friend she hoped she could keep, so she let him trail behind her or walk in step next to her. She found out that his company was well-appreciated, especially when he went off on one of his nervous rants.

Yes, she'd roll her eyes and call him a loser, but she loved listening to his rants, even when she acted like she wasn't paying attention.

"Hey, Michelle, what's your deal with Peter, huh?" One of the stronger Mutants, Ben Reilly, ended up asking her one day while Peter was off goofing around with Miles outside in th courtyard.

Michelle had been sitting next to the window of the spot she always occupied at the library, silently keeping an eye on her roommate when he had walked up. She snapped her head towards him, brow furrowed. "What?"

"I mean... I dunno, you've never openly watched someone before," he went off, a bit nervous that she'd jump up and snap his jaw with one punch to the face. Ben had super strength as well, but _nothing_ could compare to Michelle's brute strength and wicked fast healing factor.

"I'm not watching him, I'm just really observant," she sniffed, turning to a blank page in her sketchbook.

"Are you just watching him because all the other girls are ogling over him? Is it because he's Stark's kid?" He pressed, sounding more defensive than curious.

Michelle stood up to her full height, instantly noticing the way Ben flinched back, despite being taller than her. "He's my roommate, Reilly, and I wanna watch out for him. That good enough for you?" She growled eyes narrowed.

Ben didn't say anything else but let his eyes flicker back towards Peter and Miles outside before darting back towards the fuming girl.

"You know how Gwen gets when she has her eyes set on a particular target. All she cares about is either bragging about dating the son of a multimillionaire or getting the same son of a multimillionaire into her bed and then she'll dump him like he was nothing to her. I'm not allowing that to happen to someone as good as Peter Parker."

The taller boy squared his jaw, the clearly defined scar over his eyebrow making him look more menacing. "It seems to me that you care quite a bit about him."

Michelle scoffed. "He's my roommate, why wouldn't I care?"

Ben had a knowing look in his eyes as he backed off to walk away from her. "I think it's more than that, Jones."

The female Mutant felt her boiling anger subside into a smoldering puddle as her thoughts flashed back to Peter. She looked outside, watching him catch her eye and smile brightly.

She couldn't help but flip him off just to see him exhale in a laugh, shaking his head.

She sank back into her beanbag chair to relax and continue working on her sketch of the intricate web patterns entangled around black dahlia flowers.

Ben's words had reached something she desperately tried to push away to the back of her mind, scared at how vulnerable those thoughts made her feel.

Her dark cocoa eyes flickered towards Peter, who she knew was the cause of those trespassing thoughts. She didn't like how the thought of him was always present in her head. She hated how mushy he made her feel whenever he smiled or laughed.

She didn't want to feel this way anymore. It was too confusing, too hard, and too scary for her. She never dealt with this before, and she didn't want to deal with it any longer than she already had been.

She started to avoid Peter. Little by little, she'd make up excuses to study or go to other parts of the school to help out with some of the other students or train herself to strengthen her powers.

If it meant those foreboding feelings would leave her alone, it was worth avoiding Peter's hurt eyes and the absence he left in her heart.

He stopped sitting with her at lunch after a few days. He stopped showing up to the cafeteria altogether after a while.

Michelle knew she hurt him, and some part of her felt incredibly guilty. But she was well-aware that Peter wouldn't want to be around someone like her. She was just saving herself from the inevitable heartbreak of losing him as a friend.

His sincere, polite smiles he gave whenever she came into their room never matched the dull look in his eyes started to dwindle, the soft greetings and goodnights he mumbled her way fading into a depressing silence. Even his screams from his nightmares were nothing more than choked whimpers and panicked breathing. Whenever he slept that was.

After Michelle stopped talking to him, Peter's nap schedule was thrown out the window and he'd go _days_ without sleeping to avoid waking her up with his screams. He'd pass out in the library, the lab, even during training where he was too tired to rely on his powers to help him spar against other students, so he was often left black and blue with an even more defeated look in his eyes.

After seeing him get beaten up way too many times, Michelle avoided the training room, unless it was vacant and empty. She couldn't bear to see how the other students would pummel the smaller boy to the ground before one of the teachers stepped in to protect Peter from breaking a few bones.

The last straw was when she heard him stand up for her. After she treated him like shit, avoided him for weeks and here he dares to stand up for her.

It was a rare occurrence where Miles would convince Peter to come into the cafeteria to eat and sit with his friends, although he wouldn't eat much of what was put on his plate. 

She was sitting at her usual table, her food also barely eaten, trying to distract herself from Peter sitting at the table in front of her with Miles and his friends when she heard the comments being fired.

"Hey, Stark. You've ever played Kiss, Marry, Kill before?" Damien asked in a playfully mocking tone of voice.

"No, I haven't..." Peter mumbled, stabbing at his food with his fork, barely looking up.

"'S pretty simple enough," Ben muttered. "Also stupid."

"You wanna go first, Morales?" Damien asked, grinning over at the other boy.

He sighed and shook his head, smiling encouragingly at Peter. "Kiss Mary Jane Watson, marry Gwen Stacy, and kill Jessica Drew."

The boys snorted, laughing at the stupid game, as Cindy Moon, one of Damien's friends piped up.

"Okay, my turn! Kiss Peter Stark, marry Johnny Storm and kill Damien Montgomery." She gave Damien a playful glare as the other kids around her started laughing, while Peter shyly ducked his head when she called out his name.

"Oh man, Cin, you're brutal," Damien gasped in between chuckles. He wiped his eye with a finger before focusing on Peter. "What about you, Stark?"

Peter looked up very briefly before his eyes focused on his cold food. "Kiss, marry, and kill Michelle Jones.."

When she heard her name being said, Michelle aimed a glance at Peter to see him fiddling with nothing in his hands, as some of the students laughed at him.

"Michelle Jones for all three? C'mon, Stark, you've gotta pick two other people," Damien chuckled, shaking his head.

"Final answer. Kiss, marry and kill Michelle Jones," he stated defiantly.

"Why do you want to have anything to do with her? Hasn't she been, like, ignoring you for a month now?" Johnny Storm asked, giving the spider Mutant a pointed look.

"Yeah, so?" Peter squared his shoulders, an edge of defensiveness to his voice.

"I'm just saying that if someone doesn't want anything to do with me anymore I wouldn't keep caring about them," the other boy stated matter-of-factly.

Peter licked his lips, flashing all of them his baby fangs for a split second. "I know that. Even if she's avoiding me, I wouldn't stop caring about her."

"Would you still care about her if she said she didn't give a rat's ass about you?" Damien asked, almost like he didn't believe him. "I mean, she's not known for having very many people to hang out with. Maybe those rumors about her turning friends away are true."

Peter suddenly jolted up in his seat, baring his fangs at the other teenagers. "don't you _ever_ say that about her. Yes, I know she'd rather be anywhere else than talk to me, but I don't appreciate you guys spreading rumors about her."

Michelle was completely dumbfounded to hear his angry declaration. He cared about her. Hell, he probably cared about her more than he did himself. As she watched him storm out of the cafeteria, leaving his cold food behind and his friends sitting there, not knowing what to say, she couldn't help but follow after him.

Why did he do that? He was such a noble idiot. He was going to get himself into trouble one day with that attitude.

Why couldn't he just forget about her and leave it at that?

But when she saw him curled up next to her bed in their room, one hand covering his face... She didn't want him to forget about her.

"Hey..."

Peter lifted his head, his copper eyes wide in surprise when he heard her soft voice. A genuinely surprised, although confused smile stretched across his face when he saw his roommate.

He looked so happy to see her. It made her heart clench painfully.

"Hey..." He greeted, his smile seemingly unwavering.

"That was...pretty brave of you..." She commented awkwardly, gripping her arm.

"Well... I couldn't sit there and let them say that stuff about you," he admitted, his smile faltering. "I-I mean, I know you haven't been talking to me as much as more, but..." He ran a hand through his fluffy curls. "it just made me mad someone could say something like that about you..."

Without any hesitation, Michelle sat down next to him. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into her side. "Thanks, loser."

He grinned, hugging her tightly. "You're welcome, Michelle."

"And I, uh... I'm sorry I was...y'know, avoiding you. I was just scared that I'd find some way to get close to you, and then you'd leave for, I dunno, someone better..." She grew quieter when she finished her awkward confession, brow furrowing.

"Has...someone done that to you before?" Peter asked after he pulled away from their hug, concerned. His large puppy eyes focused on her countenance, as she reluctantly nodded.

"Yeah. Ditched in eighth grade by my best friend from kindergarten. Wasn't fun," she said.

Peter frowned. "I'm sorry about that..."

She shrugged. "You're fine. I'm the one really in the fault here. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"I kinda am, too, though," Peter protested. "Me following you around? That's because my best friend died in a car crash three years ago.." He admitted sadly. "I was so scared of making friends for a _long_ time because I didn't want to see or hear about them dying."

"And...now that you have me...?" Michelle patiently waited for Peter to finish as he let out a shaky breath.

"I keep following you around because I'm scared something's going to happen to you," he blurted out. "I know, I know you're fully capable of defending yourself, but I'm just... I'm still scared..."

Michelle wasted no time in tightly hugging him again, feeling him fist his hands into her jacket. "I'm sorry, Peter..." She consoled, squeezing him just a bit tighter than necessary.

"'S okay..." He murmured into her shoulder, curling closer to her for comfort.

The two Mutants silently sat on the floor for quite some time before Michelle finally spoke up.

"Are you seriously thinking of kissing, marrying, _and_ killing me, Parker?"

Peter snorted, shoulders shaking with laughter. "Yeah."

She hummed thoughtfully before pulling away from their hug, their noses barely brushing. "I think I can live with that."

Peter smiled his earnest, dorky grin, something she missed seeing for weeks. "That's cool..."

She stood up, her roommate scrambling to his feet right after her. "You in the mood to spar, Spider-Boy?"

Peter's grinned turned into a challenging smirk. "Don't kick my ass too hard, Jones."

"I plan on it," she said bluntly, as Peter eagerly followed her out of their room. "Haven't sparred against you before, anyway, so don't expect me to go easy on you."

Peter laughed, grinning broadly. "I think I'm gonna look forward to that."

* * *

Over the next few days, Peter stuck to her side like glue. Michelle noticed that he acted a bit differently from Miles and his friends after they insulted her and Miles refused to stand up for her with him. He was pretty open about being her friend, even derailing any conversation that would have led to an insult directed at her with a sharp hiss and bared fangs.

In all honesty, she kind of liked seeing how defensive Peter could be. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because he always looked like an angry puppy, she wasn't sure.

Sparring with Peter was always a challenge, however. Peter's "Spider-Sense" alerted him of danger before anything remotely bad happened. Which also included punches and well-aimed kicks.

Since she only got to witness Peter's butt being kicked by the other students during their month-long split, she was genuinely surprised to see how  _ amazing _ at fighting he was.

"My aunt Nat trained me," he explained to her one day while they took a breather by the bleachers to drink water from their large, plastic, or metal thermoses. "Although my dad was highly against it at first."

Michelle smiled at him, raising her thermos to her lips. "Looks like she trained you pretty damn well, loser."

Peter gave her a challenging grin. "You haven't seen anything yet," he said in a low voice before gulping his water.

And he was right. She hadn't seen anything yet.

When it was Peter's turn to spar with Damien, he was quick to fire webbing at his hands and face to distract him before disarming him by body-slamming him to the ground, twisting his opponent's body around with the use of his calves.

Michelle, to say the least, was mildly impressed. Except when Gwen started obnoxiously cheering and clapping, a few of the other girls egging her on. She wouldn't have been surprised if some of them fainted if Peter so much  _ glanced _ their way.

"You showoff," she said, smacking him in the arm when he sat down next to her, a playful grin on his flushed red face.

"What? The coach said to disarm him!" He protested, laughing.

The longer she spent with Peter, the stronger those feelings got. Her feelings be damned, she wasn't going to shove him away again. Neither of them, especially Peter, could take that.

The coach blew his whistle as Damien slunk off to lick his wounds, rubbing his jaw with the back of one hand. "Alright, guys! Wrap it up, and shower before dinner!"

Peter and Michelle instantly started to gather their belongings, Peter shrugging his jacket on over his t-shirt, his hair plastered to his sweaty forehead.

Michelle risked a glance over her shoulder to make sure her roommate was following her, but she soon realized that he was scratching rapidly at his arms in the middle of trying to follow after her. "What's taking you so long?" She asked, no real bite to her voice.

Peter smiled at her snarky voice, picking up his pace to keep up with her. "Just a bit itchy is all. It's probably nothing."

The taller girl quirked an eyebrow before she shrugged. "Okay."

They both fell into a comfortable silence, as Michelle busied herself in removing the tie from her hair to let it fall loose over her back and shoulders, which were bared to the cold air-conditioned building thanks to the camisole she wore while training.

They both turned down the hallway to reach their room, a few of the other Mutants following behind them.

"Hey."

Peter and Michelle both looked over to see Miles awkwardly shuffling his feet, one red and white shoe left untied.

"I'm sorry about letting those guys insult you like that," he said, nodding his head to Michelle.

Peter tilted his head before smiling at him. He gently nudged Michelle, who was staring at the other boy with a calculated look.

"You're forgiven. Damien's an ass anyway."

Both Miles and Peter laughed at that statement, as the girl wandered inside her room.

"Have fun making up, boys," she joked playfully.

Peter rolled his eyes. "We will, Jones."

Miles smiled before it faltered when he saw Peter scratching at his arms again. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Peter tilted his head before noticing his hands absentmindedly scratching at his skin. "Oh. Yeah, I'm good. It's just a little itch. I'm not gonna die."

Miles didn't seem very convinced before he sighed. "I'm sorry I stood there like that, Peter. I... I tend to lock up in stressful situations like that. It happened ever since my uncle died, I guess. When I first found out I had powers."

Peter smiled generously. "That's alright, man. Thanks for apologizing."

The taller, although younger, boy smiled at him before rocking on the balls of his feet. "Maybe, I dunno, we could sit together or something at dinner?"

The spider-like Mutant grinned, his fangs peeking out of his mouth. "Yeah! I'll have to ask Michelle, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Miles smiled, nodding. "Okay, yeah. I'll see you guys then!" He waved before turning around to exit down the hallway.

Peter smiled before scratching at his jaw with his hand, finally heading inside his dorm room.

"Hey, Miles said he wanted to sit with us tonight, that okay?" He asked, his eyes widening when Michelle peeked her head out from around the closed bathroom door, her clothes left discarded in their joint laundry basket.

"Yeah, I don't care," she said before ducking back into the bathroom.

Peter blinked himself back to reality, scratching the back of his neck. "That's, that's good..."

He soon found himself sitting propped against the wall next to the closed bathroom door, scratching at his arm.

"You gonna be out of there anytime soon? I did most of the sparring today while you hung out on the bleachers, and now I'm all sweaty and gross," he complained to her while waiting outside the bathroom for her to finish her shower, scratching vigorously at his arm under his hoodie sleeve.

"Pipe down, you big baby, I'm not gonna take long," Michelle explained over the shower water hitting her body. "Hey, is my bathrobe out there? I mean, I'd gladly walk out with just a towel, but that was when I was, y'know, alone."

Peter started to look around, his face instantly heating up when he tried to picture his roommate walking around like that. "Uh... There's this lavender robe out here, is that it?" He asked, standing up to grab a lavender kimono with a dark purple outline of cherry blossom branches along the bottom and dark purple cuffs.

"Yeah, that's it." She opened the door a crack and stuck her arm out. "Give."

"No offense, but... When you said bathrobe, I didn't think you meant that," Peter said smiling nervously as he handed his friend her kimono.

"What did you think I meant, Parker?" She asked, no real bite in her voice.

"A big fluffy bathrobe that doubles as a blanket," Peter laughed, as he aggressively scratched his arms with both hands, leaving angry red lines from his nails.

"I wish I had one of those," she laughed. "Sounds pretty awesome."

"My dad got one of those for his fiance for her birthday this year," Peter said, starting to rub the back of his neck. "It looks pretty soft." His face flushed red when he saw Michelle step out of the bathroom in her kimono, her still-damp hair hanging loosely over her back and shoulders.

He must have been staring at her with his jaw hanging wide open because she simply lifted her hand to his chin and shut his mouth with a click. "Stop staring at me like you're a fish, Parker. I'll be right back." She slipped past him, striding into the closet to find some pajamas for herself to wear.

Peter fumbled before whirling around to see where she had walked off to. He instantly scratched at his collarbone, brow furrowing. He had been subconsciously scratching his arms and neck all day, making his already-irritated skin look redder.

Yes, he knew he broke out in hives and his tongue would swell up if he ate any peppermint, that's why Tony packed several EpiPens into his luggage, but he steered far, far away from any peppermint, even if it was offered to him.

So why was he so itchy?

He must have been scratching at his neck for a while because Michelle had to flick his nose to get his attention. "Huh?" He blinked at her, confused.

"Did you hear anything I said or were you relentlessly clawing your skin off?" She asked in a teasing tone of voice, which made Peter laugh sheepishly.

"No, I'm sorry... You were saying?" He scratched at his wrist under his jacket sleeve, smiling.

"I was saying that you can take your shower now. And try not to claw yourself to death." The girl smiled smugly, tugging her jacket on over her "Votes for Women" t-shirt.

"Where are you going?" He tilted his head in that same, innocent puppy-dog manner Michelle loved.

"Medical ward," she replied simply. "You've been itching since yesterday, don't think I haven't noticed, and I was gonna go get some cream for you or something."

He smiled, his cheeks flushing pink. "Oh, okay. Thanks, Michelle."

"Just call me MJ, Parker," she said, smiling a genuine smile at him before exiting their room.

"Okay...MJ." Peter gave her one last smile before retreating into the bathroom, the door to their room clicking shut behind his roommate.

"So, you and Stark kissed and made up?" Ben asked from his cryptic corner by the staircase.

Michelle looked over at him, a neutral look on her face. "So?"

"Took you long enough," he commented dryly. "Anyway, that's not exactly why I'm here."

"Why  _ are _ you here then?" The girl sniffed, raising an eyebrow.

"Gwen was telling me something along the lines of hosting a party later this weekend, and she wants Peter there specifically." The taller boy walked towards her, the scarring across his face sticking out more in the bright lights. "Sound familiar?"

"Date rape drugs would be going everywhere at wherever she's hosting that," MJ said. "Just like what happened last time."

"Yeah. Someone gets drugged, nearly raped, and the cops were called because there was a bunch of 'Mutants' causing a problem." Ben leaned against the wall. "Keep an eye out on your spider, Jones. We all know what she might do to him."

With those words kept in mind, Ben walked past her, leaving her in the hallway alone.

She needed to let Peter know about this.

She walked back towards her and Peter's room door, unlocking it with her fingerprint. It swung open, letting her step inside, and closed behind her with a soft click. "Hey, Parker, I ran into Ben, I need to tell you some—"

Michelle stared, wide-eyed at the sight that beheld her in the form of her awkward dork of a roommate.

His skin was bright pink, which made him look like he had been out in the sun for too long. He uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, the other cautiously gripping the towel around his waist, which was the only thing he had covering himself at the moment.

“Why the hell are you standing in here naked?!” Michelle hissed, unable to tear her eyes away from the six-pack he expertly hid from everyone underneath baggy hoodies and nerdy t-shirts.

Peter smiled nervously, shuffling his bare feet against the carpet, his puppy-dog eyes glancing at the Peter-sized husk of dead skin on the floor. “I think I just...shed my skin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really hope I wasn't rushing through this chapter. It kind of felt like I was, idk.
> 
> I hope you all like it, and I promise I won't abandon this story again!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if I got anything wrong about the X-Men stuff! I haven't seen any of the X-Men movies before, so I hope I did okay! I'm excited to explore this new Au. It looks like it's going to be pretty fun, and I can't wait to continue it further!


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